Leveraging Latency: How the Weak Compel the Strong with Nuclear Technology

Tristan A. Volpe's book "Leveraging Latency" argues that having greater capacity to build weaponry doesn't translate to greater coercive advantage. He finds that there is a trade-off between threatening proliferation and promising nuclear restraint, and that states need just enough bomb-making capacity to threaten proliferation but not so much that it becomes too difficult for them to offer nonproliferation assurances.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Over the past seven decades, several states have successfully employed the threat of acquiring atomic weapons to extract concessions from superpowers. However, for many others, this coercive strategy has proven ineffective. The question arises: When does nuclear latency, the technical capability to build the bomb, enable states to pursue effective coercion?

In his book Leveraging Latency, Tristan A. Volpe challenges the notion that greater capacity to build weaponry automatically translates to a greater coercive advantage. Volpe argues that there exists a trade-off between threatening proliferation and promising nuclear restraint. States need to possess just enough bomb-making capacity to threaten proliferation without making it excessively challenging for them to provide assurances of non-proliferation. The boundaries of this "sweet spot" align with the capacity to produce the fissile material essential for an atomic weapon.

To test this argument, Volpe conducts comparative case studies of four countries that have leveraged latency against superpowers: Japan, West Germany, North Korea, and Iran. Through these case studies, Volpe identifies a generalizable mechanism, the threat-assurance trade-off, that explains why more power often hinders the effectiveness of coercion. This framework sheds light on how technology shapes broader bargaining dynamics and offers valuable insights for refining policy options aimed at inhibiting the spread of nuclear weapons.

As nuclear technology continues to dominate the global landscape, Leveraging Latency provides a comprehensive assessment of its coercive utility. By examining the interplay between nuclear latency, power dynamics, and coercive strategies, this book offers valuable insights for policymakers, scholars, and anyone interested in understanding the complex dynamics of nuclear proliferation and its implications for international security.

Weight: 498g
Dimension: 164 x 242 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197669532